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NEW YORK - Chef-owner Larry Forgione, a trailblazer of the American culinary movement, is charting a new course that promises to change the direction of his New York-based company, An American Restaurant Group.
Even as Forgione puts the finishing touches on a pair of largescale foodservice projects in two new luxury hotels in Manhattan, he is preparing to close two of his underperforming restaurants, Rosehill and The Coach House, by the end of the month.
Forgione - who will continue to own and operate the classic An American Place in New York and The Beekman 1766 Tavern in Rhinebeck, N.Y - plans simultaneously to launch a 12,000-squarefoot banquet and catering facility called Liberty House in Liberty State Park in New Jersey.
The restaurateur said he also anticipates buying the Beekman Arms, the 19-room country inn that houses the tavern, by the end of the year.
Joining Forgione as consulting chef in the new ventures is his longtime friend and colleague, Jonathan Waxman, also an early proponent of American cuisine.
Waxman, who owned and operated such New York restaurants as Jams and Hulot's in the 1980s and previously had been chef at the seminal Michael's in Santa Monica, Calif, has spent the past several years consulting. Of his new position, Waxman said he is "trying to stay behind the scenes. This is really Larry's show."
Forgione, however, pointed out that "Jonathan and I are the only people involved in all of the projects. And while he is not an equity partner in the company, he is my partner in every other sense of the word."
Richard D'Orazi,...